Quote:Brazil may have sealed their place in the World Cup semi-finals, but they will have to play the rest of the tournament without their star striker Neymar who was carried off on a stretcher towards the end of their 2-1 victory over Colombia.

BRAZIL VS COLOMBIA - AS IT HAPPENED

Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar has confirmed that Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra during the match with Colombia.

He told Brazil's SportTV: "It's not serious in the sense that it doesn't need surgery, but he'll need to immobilize it to recover.

"Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to play," said Lasmar, adding that he expected the recovery period to take at least a few weeks.

Neymar has at times seemed to carry this Brazil side single-handedly into the knockout stages of this tournament, notably slotting the final penalty to ensure they won a shootout with Chile in the previous round.

However the joy at beating Colombia on Friday evening will have been tempered by the news that their talisman is out of the tournament after being taken straight to hospital following their quarter-final clash.

Thats sad because I was already thinking that Brazil can win this WO but without Neymar I dont think so anymore.
I really would like to see final Netherlands vs. Germany. Netherlands are my favorites :)